


Puppets

by apharaohstory



Category: Doctor Who, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-27 23:23:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5068870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apharaohstory/pseuds/apharaohstory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry, Ron and Hermione arrive at Hogwarts for a new term to find that their beloved divination teacher has fallen ill and taken a leave of absence. To fill her place, Dumbledore has hired a strange young man who likes to dress like a mismatched muggle. In a pinstriped suit and trainers and with his lovely blond student teacher, Miss Tyler, at his side The Doctor has taken over a teaching roll at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wisardry. What is really going on in the Wizard world?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe the summer is up already. I hardly had a chance to do much of anything besides play guinea pig to Fred and Georges' little joke shop prototypes." Whined Ronald Weasley as he pulled on his school robes, his fiery red hair blazing against the gray and gloomy backdrop the train window presented him with. He, Harry and Hermione were all sitting together in the same compartment of the Hogwarts Express as they usually did upon their journey back to school.

"Just be happy you didn't spend the summer cleaning the bathroom every time your barmy cousin decides to eat a dozen boxes of chocolate in one sitting." Harry retorted as he too stood to slip on his school robes, accidentally elbowing Hermione in the ear in the process.

"Ow! Watch it Harry!" She cried from behind a thick textbook that she had earlier refered to as light reading.

"Sorry." Harry mumbled as he struggled to find his robe's other arm hole in the cramped space.

"Blimey Harry, every time you mention that awful family of yours I get the shivers." continued Ron, "I mean when I hear about your summer, mine doesn't seem nearly as bad in comparison."

"That's the reason I tell you these stories Ron, so that you appreciate how wonderful your life really is, even if your mum is a bit...much sometimes."

"Much is an understatement...she's mental she is."

"Yeah well, at least you have a mum."

Ron shrugged, "I guess you're right."

Just as Ron sat down the Hogwarts Express came to a sudden stop outside Hogsmead station, causing Harry to lose his balance slightly and trip over Ron's leg in the cramped space. He landed sideways on top of Hermione, his head in her lap, and had knocked her book under Ron's seat. He rolled on to his back so that he was looking straight into her face with his glasses slightly askew and smiled weakly up at her.

"S-sorry." He stuttered nervously, for he knew that even though her face was out of focus to his eyes at the moment, she was glaring down at him. He fixed his glasses and rose to his feet all in a series of quick and guarded movements, expecting any moment to be hit over the head by Hermione with her book.

"If you had just listened to me earlier, and put your robes on in the coridoor a good half hour ago, all of this could have been avoided." Hermione complained huffily.

"Yeah well, we were in the middle of something important." Ron explained.

"Yes," Said Hermione with great attitude, "because trading chocolate frog cards is all so important."

Ron rolled his eyes as Hermione slid her book out from under his seat. "She just doesn't understand us mate." he said to Harry in a low voice.

"I understand you perfectly well Ronald Weasley," spat Hermione, "And I would prefer if...Oh look, you've gone and made me lose my place!"

"Wasn't my fault! Harry's the one that fell!"

"But who's idea was it to trade chocolate frog cards when he should have been changing into his school robes, and who's leg was it that he tripped over?"

"Oh sure, find any reason you can to blame this on me. Isn't that how you always do it?"

Hermione grabbed her things off the luggage rack and pulled open the compartment door, "Well if you weren't always getting Harry to do stupid things..."

Ron had also taken his things down off the rack and had followed her out into the corridor, "Excuse me! Who is it that is always getting Harry to do stupid things? I reckon it's you-know-who that is always getting Harry into trouble not me."

"He only gets him into life threatening danger, Ron. The average, every-day stupidity usually is brought about by you." their voices were now starting to fade in with the rest of the crowd as they moved down the hall toward the nearest exit.

Harry sighed as he too grabbed his things off the luggage rack to hurry after his friends. As he struggled to move along the thin, crowded place with his heavy trunk and clunky owl cage he called after his friends, "Come on guys, it hasn't even been one day! Do you really want to start off a new term bickering?"

For it sure seemed that they did. Ron and Hermione continued their pointless argument all the way up to the castle and into the great hall. Having had dragged not only Ron's two older twin brothers into the the argument as well as some how the Malfoy family and Hagrid's overgrown spider, Aragog, Harry had had enough by the time they took their seats. He whipped out his wand and shouted "Langlock!" and within milliseconds both Ron and Hermione were no longer capable of anything more than grunts. After a moment both of them realized that they were no longer capable of regular speech, panicked for a second, and then turned to glare at Harry. He just smiled back at them smugly.

"I won't tolerate you two arguing all through dinner again, and on my first night back." He warned just as Neville Longbottom took the seat next to him.

He gazed across the table, confused for a second and then resolved to an understanding smile. "They were arguing again so you jinxed their tongues to the roof of their mouths didn't you?."

"yup."

"Pretty clever Harry, but I would free them quick. Here comes McGonagall!"

Harry looked over his shoulder to find professor McGonagall walking briskly up the isle carrying the sorting hat. Behind her a long line of awestruck first years followed along like a line of ducklings chasing after their mother. Harry shot his friends a warning glance and then quickly freed them of their jinx before professor McGonagall figured out what had happened.

The sorting took a little longer than it had in the past. There seemed to be twice as many first years as there had been in the past. Or maybe the time just seemed to have passed a great deal slower because Harry's mind had been wondering. There was an empty seat up at the head table, the one where professor Trelawney, head of divination was suppose to be seated. That wasn't the most peculiar thing however. Especially when considered that professor Trelawney usually did not make trips down out of her tower to sit with the other teachers for the start of term feast or for any other occasion. No, the most peculiar thing, the thing that had Harry's mind wondering the most, was the extra seat that had been added to the table next to the empty seat and the young woman that sat in it. She appeared to be of average height with shoulder length, pin-straight blond hair, and a never fading grin that expressed her sheer enjoyment of every passing moment.

"Who do you think she is?" Harry whispered to his two best friends as the last few first years stood in line to be sorted.

"I don't know, but I hope she isn't a Gryffindor." Ron whispered back, "She looks rather arrogant if you ask me."

"Not the first year Ron, the new girl sitting up next to professor Trelawney's empty chair."

"Slytherin!" shouted the sorting hat.

"Well that explains the arrogance." mumbled Neville.

"New girl? What new..." Asked Ron as Hermione grabbed his head and forced it in the direction of the stranger sitting at the head table, "Oh, that new girl! I haven't the foggiest idea who she is, but she's gorgeous!"

Hermione shot him a dark look, "Oh come on Ron, if she's at the head table then she's way out of your league."

"Doesn't mean I can't look. After all, I have eyes for a reason."

"Seriously Ron, she's a teacher. Hitting on her would be creepy."

"Doesn't mean guys aren't going to do it." added in Neville, "Look at Seamus over there. I think someone needs to pop his eyeballs back into their sockets."

"Hufflepuff!" Interjected the sorting hat.

"But she can't be a teacher." argued Harry, "I mean, she can't be older than a seventh year."

"Maybe she's a really advanced witch who graduated school early because of her accomplishments." Suggested Hermione.

"You would assume that." retorted Ron.  
"What's that suppose to mean!?"

"It means that I don't think it works like that."

"Why not? Why shouldn't a witch be rewarded for her great accomplishments?"

"Ron's right though Hermione, it doesn't make sense." added Harry.

"Maybe it's an anti aging potion." suggested Neville, "The witches these days, even the young ones, drink that stuff like it's pumpkin juice."

"I don't think that's it either. I have this weird feeling about her though, this feeling like something is wrong."

Hermione, Neville and Ron all exchanged a glance.

"Oh come on guys, when has my gut ever been wrong?"

But before any of them could make a proper response, professor McGonagall had announced the end of the sorting and professor Dumbledore had rose to his feet to announce the beginning of the start of term feast. After that they were all so busy stuffing their faces full of chicken legs and meat pies that they forgot what they had been talking about. It wasn't long though before they were reminded.

About half way through dessert, the doors to the great hall burst open and every pair of eyes in the hall turned to the funny looking stranger that had entered the room. A man with long, messily spiked brown hair in a long trench coat, brown pinstriped suit and tie with bright red high-tops came striding in. The whole room gawked at him as he made his way up the center isle. Some snickered, some whispered, and some just stared (like Ron) with their mouth full and pudding dribbling down their chin. When the stranger made his way to the head table he smiled sheepishly at Dumbledore, averted professor McGonagall's eyes, and then took a seat in professor Trelawney's empty chair. The strange blond girl rose an eyebrow at him, and he just turned and grinned a huge grin. The whole hall erupted in chatter.

A few minutes later Dumbledore rose to his feet for his annual start of term speech. The room fell instantly silent.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," he greeted the room with a warm smile "To our first years welcome and to everyone else, welcome back. I have a few announcements to make before I dismiss you all to your dormitories, but first I would like to say that our beloved teacher and friend professor Trelawney has fallen ill and has had to take some time off."

The crowd broke out into an excited murmur.

"So in her absence," continued Dumbledore calmly and the room fell silent again, " a couple new faces will be taking her place. May I introduce to you professor Smith and his lovely student teacher, Miss Tyler." The Strange man in the mismatched muggle clothes and the beautiful blond girl in her long black robes that did indeed make her seem like a student, rose from their seats. The strange man, professor Smith, made a little bow and Miss Tyler just blushed a deep crimson and giggled. Snape shot them a nasty look from the opposite end of the table.

"Student teacher?" Asked Ron as he left the great hall and headed toward Gryffindor tower with his friends "Since When has Hogwarts ever had any kind of Student teachers?"

"There hasn't been one for over a century, but it isn't entirely unheard of." Harry mumbled back distractedly. His mind was still mulling over the new teacher's strange attempt at muggle attire while working at the school.

"Where do you learn all this stuff?"

"It's called Reading." snapped Hermione, "It was in the third chapter of 'Hogwarts a History'. The chapter titled 'Teachers over the centuries.'"

"Well excuse me."

"If you two don't knock it off I'm going to jinx your tongues again."

"We aren't aloud to use magic in the hallways." Hermione warned with a smirk.

"When has that ever stopped us before." chuckled Harry.

Meanwhile, on the giant spiral staircase leading up to the divination tower the new teacher and his companion were laughing giddily.

"And then professor Flitwick cracked that joke about the two opera singers and the snake and I thought I was going to spit pumpkin juice out all over professor McGonagall. She shot me this look like 'dark magic is not below me if you ruin my new robes'" Rose Tyler imitated her favorite professor's voice as well as she could.

"Yeah well did you see the look she shot me when I walked in late?" John Smith, or as he is better known as, The Doctor complained.

"Well, to be fair you did show up when there was only about a half hour of dinner left."

"Yeah, but Dumbledore didn't seem to be all that upset about it."

"That's because he's the kindly headmaster and he respects you. Why were you so late anyhow?"

"Reasons I will tell you later. Now is not the time nor the place. After all, we did take up jobs here because of the school's record. We go looking for trouble, and what a better place to find it than at Hogwarts?"

"True, but wasn't it kind of risky considering we're both...you know..." she paused on the staircase and dropped her voice to a low whisper, "Muggles."

The Doctor chuckled and shook his head.

"What?" Rose demanded.

"You just assume."

"Assume? Assume what?"

"That we are both muggles."

"Aren't we?"

"No. We're not."

"But.."

"But, I'm half human. On my mother's side."

Rose stopped short. They were just below the trap door that lead into the divination classroom.

"What?"She demanded.

"You heard me." he shrugged as he dug inside his suit's inside jacket for what Rose assumed was his screwdriver.

"Yeah, but that makes you a half breed Timelord, not a wizard."

"I said that my mother was human, not that she was necessarily a muggle."

"What, your mum was a witch?"

"Yup, but she gave up that life to raise me like a proper Timelord. But still, she taught me a few spells here and there when she had the chance. Divination was her strong point, so it's the subject I know most about."

"Me too. I bought that set of real-life Hogwarts books that came out as a children in need special, and divination was my favorite to read."

"Ah, here we go!" Cried the Doctor as he whipped a long wooden stick out of his pocket jacket pocket, "My wand! Well...my mother's wand anyway." He pointed it at the trap door leading to the divination tower and shouted "Alohamora!" which caused the door to unlock. He pulled it open and a ladder slid down. "Well then, isn't that nice."

They climbed into the divination tower and with a wave of The Doctor's wand, all of the lamps flickered to life. The Doctor smiled with glee.

"Doctor," Rose probed as her companion explored the room, "Even though you may be a wizard, I'm still a muggle."

The Doctor spun around to meet her concerned face.

"Oh right...well um..." He reached into his jacket pocket once more "Dumbledore is aware of the fact that you are a muggle, and so is the ministry. However, they agreed that since you were with me and promised that you would tell no one of your adventures in the wizarding world, because even if you did people would think you are crazy, and because you are with me...ah ha!" He pulled another wand out from his pocket, "They agreed to give you this." He handed her the wand.

"I get my own wand?!" Rose asked in disbelief.

"Well, kind of... I mean it's a wand but it's an enchanted one. It can do basic spells and some defensive magic without you having to actually be magical to use them. For example, you can use a basic levitation charm for every day use but you have to know the incantation..."

Rose pointed her wand at a book laying abandoned on an old chair in the corner of the room, "Wingardium Leviosa!" she stated firmly and the book began to levitate. A huge grin spread across her face.

"You can also do basic shield charms, but don't expect to get a full bodied patronus. Also, you are incapable of using any kind of jinxes, curses or otherwise. They have given you defensive magic, not offensive. Also, don't even attempt the Avada Kadavera or any other of the forbidden curses even for fun or the wand will explode, your memory will be wiped and you will be dumped off on a street corner in London without a clue as to who you are or where you are from. Your family won't remember you either. It will be as if Rose Tyler never existed, without killing you or erasing you from time."

Rose dropped the book she had been levitating around the room with a loud thud, "So I'll be worse off than Lockheart then."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Great."

"Sorry. Hope that didn't put a damper on your fantastic evening."

"Are you kidding me? I've got a wand! And I took part in the start of term feast at Hogwarts! Hogwarts for heaven's sake! What's more I'm going to be a blooming teacher here!"

"Ah, student teacher."

"It's all the same to me." Rose waved a hand dismissively, "Oh I wish I could tell mum and Mickey about this."

"You haven't even seen the best part yet." Said The Doctor with a sly grin as he pulled a roll of parchment out of his trench coat pocket.

"What have you got there?" Asked Rose, eyeing the parchment suspiciously.

"A class list."

She squealed with excitement and pulled up a chair, "Who've we got."

"Well, it looks like we've got Lavender Brown which ought to be interesting. Oh, and Draco Malfoy as well as his two henchmen. Um...Romilda Vane, Neville Longbottom, which is again going to be interesting, Luna Lovegood, annnddd...Oh Blimey!"

"What?"

"Blimey, Blimey!" The Doctor grinned from ear to ear.

"Who've we got?!' Rose asked anxiously.

"We have got the honor of teaching dear old Mr. Harry Potter and his best friend, Ronald Weasley!"

"You're Joking!"

"No, I'm not!"

Rose squealed with excitement once more and then looked down at her watch, "It's nearly midnight Doctor."

"Indeed it is. Well, off to bed with you Rose Tyler, we've got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. We've got Longbottom first period."

Rose flinched at the idea of Neville being the first thing she had to deal with in the morning, "Right then. But Doctor, where am I suppose to sleep?"

"Uh, that's a very good question. Lemme see...um, accio Rose's bed!"

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound coming from the wall covered in beads and shawls that the previous professor had left behind, and then the sound of splintering wood as a huge four poster bed came hurtling across the room to the very spot that The Doctor was standing. Rose jumped behind a table for cover just as the bed arrived at her companion's side.

"Really? The summoning charm was the best you could think of?"

The Doctor just shrugged and grinned at the huge path of destruction the bed had left in it's wake.


	2. Chapter 2

"Good morning class and welcome to divination part two!" The Doctor grinned as he looked out over his first period class all sitting on tiny stools crowded around their quaint little circular tables, "I'm Professor Smith, and this is my lovely teaching assistant Ms. Tyler." He gestured widely at Rose who stood off in a less crowded corner of the room.

She smiled meekly and waggled her fingers at the class in reply.

The Doctor continued to smile as he said in a fake whisper loud enough for Rose to hear, "Now I know she doesn't look like much, but she's the one who's going to be grading your homework and essays, so I would be nice to her."

Neville Longbottom's face paled and his eyebrows furrowed at the mention of essays having to be written for Divination.

"Oi!" Rose called out "I don't look like much? You aren't even wearing proper robes professor." She added a little extra sass to the last word.

"That, is neither here nor there." The Doctor replied, batting his eyelashes playfully at her.

"Oi! Are we here to learn the art of divination or watch you and your assistant flirt back and forth?" Came a rather obnoxious voice from the back of the class.

The Doctor spun on his heel to face the direction of the voice, his trench coat swirling dramatically around him. Through his black, square-rimmed glasses he spotted a pale boy with hair so blonde it was nearly white, grinning smugly as the two burlier boys sitting at his table snickered.

"Ah, Draco Malfoy I presume?" The Doctor cooed as he threw his coat onto a stray chair behind him and crossed his blue pinstriped arms across his chest.

"Yeah, Why?" Draco demanded.

"Oh nothing, you're reputation proceeds you is all."

Rose leaned against the wall and bit her lip to keep from snickering. Of all the book characters she disliked most, Draco was her least favorite. She even hated him more than You-Know-Who. His arrogance was something to be spoken for and his smart mouth was a sign that he had never been properly punished as a child. Everyone feared him because his daddy had money and ties to the Death Eaters, but Rose knew that The Doctor was a different story. If he could handle an army of Daleks come to destroy the world, he could more than deal with Lucius and his cohorts.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Malfoy sneered.

"Exactly what it sounds like: I have heard the stories about the kind of stunts you like to pull, and I'm not having any of it. Severus may allow you to walk all over him, but that is not happening here." The Doctor turned dramatically to the chalkboard behind him and began to draw out a chart, "Which brings me to my next point, grades. In this class there are five sections that make up your final grade, one of which is tolerance. Tolerance is how well you interact with the other students and with us, your teachers. See, Divination is an art that is individual to each person. Nobody is going to have the exact same vision in the exact same way as someone else, It's impossible. Everybody's mind is individually unique, and I believe that uniqeness should be valued and respected. It's hard to master something like divination if everyone is constantly telling you that you are crazy, or stupid, or whatever else. That's why part of the grading in this class is based on how well you tolerate the other people in it. It will be worth five points daily, and points will be deducted based on actions or comments I hear that can be deemed rude or discouraging towards other students. Once you lose points, there is no way to make them back up. If you are absent, you gain no tolerance points for the day. However, when finals come around the lack of tolerance points based on your absences will become null and void, or in other words they won't help or hurt you. Lose 20 Tolerance points and you are already looking at getting no more than a C+ in this class if you get a perfect score on everything else. I take tolerance of other people very seriously. As for you Mr. Malfoy, your little outburst has already cost you three points for the day. We are not off to a good first impression are we?" The Doctor turned back around to face Draco and tapped his chalk absently on the blackboard behind him where the Tolerance portion of the grading explanation part had been filled in.

Draco's face was burning a bright red, and a vein could be clearly seen throbbing in his forehead. He was pissed. " You can't do that! You can't grade someone based on their...kindness" He spat.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, and the room was dead silent, "Oh yes I can Mr. Malfoy. I am the Professor and I have the right to grade this class as I please. As I said before, I will not tolerate your little outbursts and stunts."

"Oh you wait 'till my father hears about this. He'll have you fired faster than you can say Avada Kadavera!"

The whole class gasped at the same time and an anxious murmur broke out among the students, even the other Slytherins who had been grinning smugly only a moment before.

"And when he hears that you choose to dress like a filthy mismatched Muggle you can pretty much guarantee that your life as a magical instructor will be over. You Mudblood!"

Rose's eyes practically popped out of her eye sockets. Draco had obviously no idea who he was dealing with. He was going to get it. The Doctor had many names: "The Oncoming Storm", "Last of the Time Lords", "Defender of The Earth", "Guardian of the Universe", and now "The Man Who Would Put Draco Malfoy Into Place."

The Doctor gave Draco a stony grin, his eyes full of fire, "I believe that is all five points you have lost for the day Mr. Malfoy and all within a matter of oh..." he glanced down at his wristwatch, "Three minutes. Not only have you successfully set an example for the class of how easily tolerance points can be lost, but you have shown them how you have no tolerance for people's individuality, and you have earned yourself detention every day this week right here in the tower with me and Ms. Tyler." The Doctor turned slyly to Rose and smiled, "Oh, and Rose, will you kindly escort Mr. Malfoy down to the headmaster's office and explain the situation." Rose tried to hide her amusement as she nodded in reply and headed for the door.

The Doctor Gestured toward the exit, "Mr. Malfoy, if you would please."

Draco stuck his nose high in the air as he loudly scraped his stool loudly against the cobblestone floor and stomped toward Rose like a small child that didn't get their way. As the trap door swung shut behind them, Professor Smith turned to the class with a bright grin, "Now then class where were we? Ah yes, the grading system..."


	3. Chapter 3

…...se...ose...Rose!

Rose moaned and rolled onto her side as she pulled her blanket over her head, "Five more minutes." she mumbled, "I don't think I could handle another morning of Malfoy." The room was warm around her, and the air its self felt like a thick plush blanket as it enveloped her, something she much preferred to the typically chilly and drafty mornings she spent in the tower bedroom.

Suddenly two sweating hot hands were shaking her shoulders desperately and The Doctor's voice called franticly into her ear once more, "Rose! You have to get up now!"

"I told you, five more minutes." she whined.

"Rose, the room is on fire, get up!"

"What!?" She snapped into a sitting position and scraped her hand on the cobblestone floor as she tried to stand up. The Doctor offered her his hand, and she took it gratefully.

"Where is my bed?" She asked confused as she glanced franticly around the room. The room was enveloped in darkness except for where a large wall of flames had taken over on the other end and the air was filed with the sickening smell of burning wood and plastic. The thick gray clouds of smoke that had collected at the ceiling somehow made it seem higher than she remembered. The room was also a what appeared to be a long rectangle, not the tiny half circle she remembered.

"Your bed?" The Doctor inquired, "Why would your bed be here?"

"Because it was! I Know it was! I was asleep right here in my room with a headache! Draco jinxed me!"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her soot covered face, thoroughly confused, "What are you?...You know what, never mind. We have to get out of here. Those flames are blocking the main exit, we have to find the emergency one before we suffocate to death."

"Doctor, there is no emergency exit, this is a tower!"  
The Doctor sighed heavily in frustration, "Never mind that, Just run!" he grabbed her hand and pulled her along as he sprinted through the ever thickening smoke, waving his screwdriver franticly back and forth.

"What...on Earth...are you doing?" Rose panted as her companion stopped in the middle of a thick plume of smoke.

"The door is somewhere around here, I'm getting a weak signal from the emergency exit sign that's suppose to hang over it."

Rose began to cough as she continued to struggle for breath. The smoke was getting thicker, and her lungs ached as they tried to filter what oxygen they could from the gray cloud surrounding her. Tears came to her eyes as she continued to cough. When she reached up to wipe them away she found that her hands were covered in soot.

The Doctor spun around and grabbed her heaving shoulders, his face twisting with concern "We have to get you out of here." He waved his screwdriver in a wide circle, "Ah! Yes! Found the exit!...do you think you can make it?"

Rose fell to her knees coughing harder than she had in a long time. It was like she was six years old again in the hospital with pneumonia, except a million times worse. She could feel her lungs collapsing in on themselves. Every breath burned as the boiling soot-filled air struggled to enter her lungs. She was coughing so hard she was seeing spots in her vision.

"I'll take that as a no." The Doctor heaved her to her feet and expertly swung his arm behind her knees and hoisted her into his arms bridal style. Holding her tightly against his pinstriped chest, he sprinted off towards the door. Rose continued to cough and gasp as he struggled with his screwdriver in an attempt to release the locking mechanism of the massive garage door before him. It wasn't exactly the emergency exit he was looking for, but he had run out of time.

In his arms Rose had stopped gasping, and her breathing had become shallow. Her eyelashes fluttered in her failing attempt to stay conscious. Inside her head, far away, someone was calling her, and she wanted to follow. The Doctor shoved the garage door high above his head. Fresh air and bright light overwhelmed them both as he sprinted out into the street and away from the flames. The last thing Rose saw before everything went black was blurry red lettering that read "Diagon Alley Service Garage."

"Professor!" Hermione called in a panicked voice.

Rose's eyes snapped open and she bolted up right. Hermione jumped back a few inches, her eyes wide.

"Professor, are you alright?"

Rose's heart was pounding and her breathing was rapid. Her hands were clammy and shaking as she took in her surroundings. She was sitting in the middle of one of the vast hallways between the head master's office and the tower where she played the part of the teaching assistant to The Doctor. The sound of the moving staircases clicking into place and students hurrying to class could be heard echoing through the corridors. The paintings on the walls were gawking at her. Some were snickering, some were just pale-faced and silent like the student standing before her.

Something was wrong. Rose could vaguely remeber getting into an argument with Draco Malfoy as she lead him into the headmaster's office, but then her memories turned to something else entirely. She remembered a fire, a smoke-filled room, and gasping for air. Then there was The Doctor. He was acting all strange like he didn't remember they were staying in the tower, or that they were even Hogwarts teachers at all.

"I have to talk to The Doctor." Rose mumbled to herself, completely forgetting Hermione's presence for a moment.

"Don't worry Professor, I sent Ron for Madame Pomfrey."

Rose jumped a little at the sound of the concerned student's voice. "Uh..no..um...I meant I have to speak with Professor Smith."

"I sent Harry for him."

"Oh. Um...what happened exactly?"

"I..I'm not sure. Harry, Ron and I were on our way to the tower for your class. We stayed late to help Professor Litwick with the first years, so we decided to take this shortcut and we stumbled across you just lying here in the middle of the hallway."

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything she was cut off by The Doctor's frantic shouting.

"Rose!" He shouted as he came skidding around a corner. His red trainers screeched, and the tail of his trench coat slammed it's self into the side of his leg as he took off sprinting again in her direction, Harry Potter gasping for breath at his heels.

He skidded to a halt and dropped to his knees in front of her, his eyes searching every inch of her anxiously. "Are you alright? What happened? Are you hurt!?"

Once again, before she could answer, someone came rushing around a corner and to her side. This time it was madam Pomfrey with a breathless Ronald Weasley at her side.

"Everybody out of the way, School nurse coming through!"

Every one moved but The Doctor. Madame Pomfrey dropped to Rose's side as well.

"What happened dear?"

Rose shook her head, "Nothing, I'm fine."

"That's not what I was told. Mr. Weasley came bursting into the infirmary like a mad man and started going on about how he and his friends found a teacher out cold in the middle of the hallway."

The Doctor's eyebrows knotted together. He knew having madam Pomfrey here was not a good thing. No one knew Rose was a muggle besides Dumbledore and himself, and Dumbledore had instructed that they tell no one unless it was an emergency. Although he was concerned about Rose's sudden fainting spell, he couldn't have madam Pomfrey running about using wizarding medicine on her. It could turn out doing more damage than good, and could expose rose as the muggle she was. He needed to get her back up to the tower and have a proper look at her. He needed to make sure it wasn't some simple human thing like low blood sugar. If was a hex or a curse then he could take her to the expert, but for now he just needed to get her out of here.

"No really Madame Pomfrey, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, but really, I'm okay."

Madam Pomfrey tried to protest further, but The Doctor cut her off, "Rose, this is what you get for not eating very much at breakfast. You know you have problems when you don't eat enough."

"But I..." Rose began to disagree, but the look on The Doctor's face made her change her mind, "You...you're right. I've got to be careful. I cant have the students finding me I the hallway like this. It isn't professional."

Madam Pomfrey gave her a cross look, "Indeed." She pulled a wrapped square of chocolate out of her apron as she stood up and handed it down to Rose, "We usually keep these on hand for those who have a habit of running into Dementors," she shot a dark look at Harry, "But I suppose it could be a simple cure for low blood sugar as well.

Rose gave her a weak smile as The Doctor rose to his feet.

"Please don't make a habit of this Ms. Tyler." The nurse warned, " Just go on up to your tower and have a rest for a while." she turned, shot another glance at Harry at his friends, gathered her skirts and left.

The Doctor helped his companion to her feet, which she was still rather wobbly on, and slung her arm around his neck. "You three head back to your common room, or wherever else it is that you need to go."

"But Professor," Hermione interjected, "we have class now. Your class."

The Doctor smiled a week smile, "I know Ms. Granger, I've seen the class list."

"So what you're saying then,"added Ron, "is that class is canceled."

"Exactly."

"Canceled? You can't cancel class! It's the first bleeding day of school!" Rose protested, "If you are canceling on account of me, then don't bother! I'm fine!" She shoved away from her pinstriped crutch and took a few defiant steps down the hall on her own. Her knees gave out on the fourth step and she slumped with dizzy vision backward into the Timelord's expecting arms.

The Doctor turned with a bright smile to the three students, " On account of your dear student teacher's health class today will be canceled. However, there will be class tomorrow unless given further notice. Now shoo."

"Ah, yes Professor." Was Harry's response as he and his friends turned and walked away.

"Ha! Professor." The Doctor mused as he flung his arm around Rose's shoulder once more, " I haven't been called Professor since, well...since Ace."

"Who was Ace?"

"Well...Ace was...well...never mind."


	4. Chapter 4

Later that evening, up in the tower, The doctor sat at his desk grading papers. He had asked his first period class to write down ten things that they remembered from last semester of Divination. He told the students that he just wanted to know where he needed to brush up on things before really delving into the subject, but in reality he just wanted to make sure he still remembered anything about the subject. That and the fact that he hated sitting still. The only sound in the room was his quill on parchment, and he hated that too.

Across the room, Rose trailed her fingers aimlessly along the binding of the thick battered novels that lined one of the many bookshelves. She couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong, that whatever had happened earlier was something that wasn't suppose to happen. Well, fainting in the middle of the hallway wasn't suppose to happen to begin with, but it wasn't that kind of "not suppose to happen" that seemed to be hanging over her. It was like something inside her was revolting, telling her that whatever had happened to her earlier was against the rules: the rules of time and space. She hadn't felt like that in a long time. Not since she had ripped open the T.A.R.D.I.S and stared straight into it's heart.

The memory of the time vortex rushing through her veins flooded her mind, and she flinched, accidentally knocking a book off the shelf in the process. It hit the floor with a loud "thud" and released a huge plume of dust into the air.

The Doctor finally broke the silence, "If you don't stop bothering the Vashta Nerada, I'm going to laugh when they devour all the flesh straight off your pretty little hand."

"The Vashta Ner...what?" Rose demanded somewhat frightened.

The Doctor looked up from his stack of papers and smiled, "I'm teasing. They only live in the Forbidden Forest. There is a reason it's forbidden you know, and it has nothing to do with Aragog or the centaurs."

Rose shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Is something bothering you?" The Doctor's mood suddenly changed to worry.

"No...why?"

"Rose don't lie to me. You only wander aimlessly when something is bothering you."  
She turned back to the bookshelf, not answering.

"Rose..." The Doctor warned.

Rose sighed, "Something doesn't make sense is all."

"Rose, if this is about you passing out earlier, we had The T.A.R.D.I.S look at you. It was actually low blood sugar that caused you to go down. We've been through this."

"That's not what's bothering me." she switched to twirling her finger around a bit of hair that had fallen loose from her bun.

The Doctor set down his quill, "Then what is bothering you?"

She hesitated. She knew she probably should tell her friend what she had seen while she was unconscious. If it was a dream it was a dream, but if it was something worse...he was the only one who could help. Then again, he didn't need the worry. He was a professor now, which is not a task he would have taken on strictly for fun. No, fun would have meant a trip to Hogsmead or Diagon Alley for the day, not a semi-permanent job at Hogwarts. He was here for another reason, a reason he had reasons not to tell her about, and reasons Rose figured were probably far more troubling than he let on. He was busy and didn't need the extra stress. She chickened out, "who...who was Ace. You never gave me a proper answer before."

The Doctor blinked a few times, shocked, and then chuckled lightly, "Is that really what you are worried about?"

She was embarrassed at how petty her excuse was, but knew that if she was going to make it believable, she had best peruse it. "Doctor!" She demanded.

His face turned serious again, and he ran his fingers through his stylishly messy copper hair, " Ace was an old friend of mine. She use to travel with me in the T.A.R.D.I.S. I guess you could call her a past companion. She uh, got a little angry with me after the death of her friend Jan and well...she chose to be left behind in the 26th century."

A spark of hatred flared inside Rose's chest. Ace was yet another one of her friends various companions. "And she use to call you Professor."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "yeah."

"She sounds a bit rubbish to me."

The room was silent for a long moment.

"You're jealous." The Timelord smiled, "You are so jealous."

"I am not!" Rose protested, blushing deeply. She was jealous.

There was a knock on the trap door, and The Doctor hopped to his feet, "Saved by the bell you are, or rather knock in this case. Dinner's here!"

"Dinner?"

"Yeah. Is there something wrong with dinner?"

"No, it's just...I thought we were eating down in the great hall."

"We have a lot of grading to do before tomorrow, so I asked Dumbledore if it might be alright if we ate up here, and he told me the other divination teacher use to all the time so we might as well."

"I hope he didn't have Filch bring it up. I don't feel much in the mood for eating cat fur tonight...or Filch spit for that matter."

"Rose, I'm not completely daft. Of course I didn't ask Filch to bring it up. I requested Dobby."

"Dobby? As in Dobby the house elf? The Dobby?!"

"Yes, the Dobby. He works in the kitchen with the other elves."

"I thought he was a free elf though. Doesn't he have choices?"

"He is a free elf. He's a free elf who chooses to work in the Hogwarts kitchens."

"Ron, would you put that away!" Hermione growled at her obnoxious best friend, "And for Heaven's sake use a napkin!"

Harry and his two friends were seated at one of the many large tables in the great hall once again for dinner. Keeping up with their old habit, Hermione and Ron had started bickering the moment they took their seats, and Harry was left to tune them out by focusing on his mashed potatoes.

"Oh for crying out loud Hermione, it's just the news paper, and we've run out of napkins." Ron whined in reply as he wiped his gravy covered chin on the back of his robe sleeve.

Hermione made a disgusted face,"This isn't breakfast, Ronald. Newspapers are for breakfast! And by the way, the Ravenclaws have plenty of napkins. Why Don't you go ask Luna for one?"

"There is no way I'm socializing with loony Lovegood in the middle of the great hall where everyone can see me."

"Well that's a rather rude thing to say!"

"So is you demanding that I put my newspaper away! I mean, if that little first year, May, can do her homework at the table, then why can't I read my paper?"

"Becauuuseeee she's a first year and she hasn't learned time management skills yet. Besides, it's homework."

"Oh I see, it's acceptable to you because it's homework!"

Hermione shot him a dark look.

"Would you two stop it already!" Harry shouted, causing several turned heads and snickers from the nearby Slytherin table, "Hermione, let him read his newspaper. If he wants to look like a mannerless fool, then let him."

"Oi!" protested Ron.

"You get to read your paper don't you." Harry shot back.

Ron narrowed his eyes at his friend before burying his face behind the newsprint.

Harry turned to Hermione, " Professor Smith and Ms. Tyler aren't here for dinner." He nodded toward the empty seats at the head table, "Do you suppose she's alright?"

"I don't know Harry. I've never known a witch to pass out from low blood sugar like that."

"I thought you passed out last year at a Quittage match."

"That's different. I didn't turn blue."

"You're right Hermione, that was a bit odd."

Suddenly, Ron slammed his hands on the table.

"Ron, what the hell are you doing?" Hermione grumbled.

"Bellatrix Lestrange is out of Askaban."

"What!?" Harry asked in horror.

"She escaped."

"How?" Hermione demanded, her face growing pale.

"It doesn't say. All it says is that they think she might be headed here, to Hogwarts." Ron swallowed hard, "Harry, she's after you."


	5. Chapter 5

"That little elf has got to be the most adorable thing I have ever met in my entire life!" Rose enthused between bites of her dinner, "He has got to be my favorite character!"

"Well then, I don't suggest you read book seven." The Doctor mumbled into the stack of parchment he was grading.

Rose choked on a bit of her mashed potatoes, "Book seven? There's a book seven?...when I left home they were only just announcing the release of book six. I thought that was going to be the last!"

"Nope." The distracted Time Lord continued to mumble, "There's a book seven."

A glimmer of excitement light up Rose's sapphire eyes, "That...that is going to be litterary gold! Old J.K. Might just put Shakespeare to shame."

The Doctor's head snapped up from the paper he was grading, and peered over the rim of his trendy, nonprescription glasses at her in horror.

"Nobody...can put Shakespeare to shame." he stated seriously.

He and Rose locked eyes, and there was a pause of silence. After a moment, Rose cracked a small smile that soon spread to her extraterrestrial companion, and resulted in a violent case of the giggles for both parties involved. It was a fun and light-hearted moment until something went horribly wrong.

Rose's laughter quickly erupted into an unexpected fit of coughing. All of a sudden it was like her lungs just refused to work. There was a tightness in her chest that she just couldn't shake no matter how hard she forced herself to cough. The worst part was that the harder she coughed, the worse her condition got. It was like someone had slipped a corset around her lungs and every time she took in another breath, the cords on her back got pulled tighter and tighter. She was confused, and frustrated, and terrified. She didn't know or understand why this was happening to her and she started to panic.

The Doctor's smile flashed into a hardened line of concern as he watched his friend struggle more and more with every intake of breath. Her endless coughing, amplified, echoed off the stony walls of the tower, making the already small room feels as if it was closing in on him. It was almost as if as her lungs closed in on themselves, the room closed it's self in on him...then again that could have just been his panic talking. Although, internally, the Time Lord was having a panic attack, he kept his exterior calm and collected. He knew that Rose needed him to be her rock. Trying to figure out what was wrong was going to need a clear head, something panic and worry couldn't give him. Now was the time for him to switch gears from best friend to doctor.

He rushed to his struggling friend's side and knelt in front of her chair. He took her face in his hands and made her now watery eyes look him directly in his face.

"Rose, are you alright!?" He knew it was an obvious question, but it was a place to start.

She shook her head, her long blonde hair whipping him in the face, and continued to cough. Unknown to her worried friend, her vision was now turning spotty. If she kept up like this, she was going to pass out.

The Doctor moved on to his next question, "Are you choking?" as bad as it might sound, he actually hoped she was choking because it meant that it was something he had a ready solution for.

Much to his dismay she again shook her head and continued to cough.

Her lungs no longer felt like they were tightening, instead they just felt like they were burning. Inside, Rose felt like her body had been lit on fire. It wasn't kind of fire felt when jealousy or rage took over, but instead it felt like she was actually burning inside her chest. The spots in her vision grew larger.

The Doctor asked her another question, but she couldn't hear him. There was a roaring in her ears and the dark spots had consumed her vision. Her body went limp and she slumped forward out of her chair and into her friend's horrified arms. Her head hit his shoulder with a soft, but audible thud.

Rose awoke in the back of an ambulance. Her vision was blurry but she could just make out the silohettes of two paramedics. Also, the sound of the blaring siren was a dead giveaway. However, the siren didn't sound like any ambulance she had ever encountered before. It sounded like the siren of an American ambulance. The kind of sound she had only ever heard on the tele. It was a strange sound, but not because it wasn't something she was use to, but rather because she expected wizard ambulances to be different. Like, she expected some kind of flu powder or a super broom, or maybe even a way to apparate without hurting the sick or injured person. On no circumstances did she expect an American ambulance to be the chosen mode of transportation for wizard doctors. Then again, the wizard world was full of surprises and good 'ole JK only covered some of what was really there.

Rose's eyelids fluttered as she struggled to open them. They felt heavy and crusty like when she woke up on the couch with her jeans on after another Netflix binge. Her head hurt like crazy too. However it wasn't the kind of headache that came with knocking into something, or stress or anything like that. It was the kind of headache that came with coughing too hard. She swallowed hard and felt the unexpected sharpness of dry, irritated vocal cords. She flinched and the paramedics took notice.

"She's awake!" one of them shouted. His voice was unexpectedly deep and clear with a slight American southern drawl, "Re-check her vitals."

A bright light was shone in her face at the same time a strong latex glove covered hand grabbed her wrist.

"Pupils dilating normally. Heart rate stable" a slightly less deep, and ever so slightly more gruff voice reported with a more northern accent.

Rose's vision was still rather blurry, so she couldn't tell which voice belonged to which paramedic. What she did know however was that one man was slightly darker in skin tone than the other.

"Rose!" called out a very worried voice, a voice she instantly recognised as the voice of her time traveling best friend, The Doctor.

Rose felt the ambulance rock a little, and heard what sounded like the shuffling around of medical equipment.

"Let me see her!" The Doctor demanded.

"Sir I'm sorry but you are really going to have to take a seat. It isn't safe for you to be standing while we are in motion." replied the first voice. As Rose's vision came back into focus, she realized that it belonged to the paler of the two men.

"Honestly, I think I'll be alright. I have a job that requires standing for long periods of time in a vehicle that has a record for being more erratic than a speeding American ambulance."

Rose giggled. It was true, the T.A.R.D.I.S. Did have a record for being a little difficult to handle and all but smooth when it came to landings. If The Doctor could manage to stay standing during that, he could manage to stand in a moving ambulance.

"I'm sorry sir, but you really must..." protested the darker man.

"If you two do remember, I am a doctor!" The Doctor interrupted, "And furthermore, I would have taken care of her myself if Universal hadn't insisted that you lot be called up! Just the thought of her in American medical hands is enough to make me sick. Since she doesn't have traveler's insurance she won't be a priority and the effects of medical debt will outlive any that the smoke inhalation must have caused."

This was another reason Rose loved being friends with the Doctor so much: His sass was comparable to no one else in the universe. Seriously, no one could match up to the Doctor. He spoke his mind and let you know exactly how he felt about a situation. If he felt a change needed to be made, he said something and if that didn't get anywhere he made sure to see to it himself. The only time he would hold back is if he cared about you enough to protect you from the full details.

"...Sir?" came the paramedic's response, Rose wasn't sure which one had answered.

The Doctor's face over took her field of vision. His wind swept, ruffly hair was covered in ashes, and his face was streaked with soot. Even his black, square rimmed ashes were slightly melted on one of the arms. There was only two explanations that came to Rose's mind: Nevil Longbottom, or Seamus Finnigan. She cracked a smile at the thought.

The Doctor's worried eyes softened a bit with her smile. God, how he loved that smile. It meant she was alive and probably herself.

"Rose Tyler, how lovely you look when you smile. Even covered in soot."

Her smile broadened a bit and she blushed a deep pink.

Suddenly, the ambulance came to a screeching halt, jostling everything inside. Rose moaned as her aching brain was wracked inside her skull. The Doctor's worried expression overcame his face once again, and he was shoved back into his seat by the paramedics as they prepared to wheel Rose's gurnee out the back. When the truck doors were opened, the bright sunlight blinded Rose's sensative eyes. She couldn't tell where she was based on sight, but she could tell by the very warm and heavy humid air that they weren't in England anymore.

She was rushed into the hospital without a chance for her eyes to adjust. The only way she could tell she had even entered the building was by the rush of icy air that hit her skin when she entered. Well, that and the overwhelmingly sickening smell of antiseptic in the air. Not to mention all the crying babies, begging and pleading family members and painful moaning of other patients they passed. She was put into a room and given a waiting number (The Doctor had been right, her lack of traveler's ensurance meant that she had been wait-listed) for a doctor who couldn't see her until much later. The nurses tried to keep her strange Galifreyan friend out of her room, but he made a huge fuss and made sure that he strayed. Even the escorts floor security called couldn't make him leave. He stayed by Rose's side and made damn sure that she at least had an assistant look at her within the next hour. Rose knew that if The Doctor had had it his way, he would be looking her over in the T.A.R.D.I.S right now instead of in this place, and the idea of him bossing other medical professionals around amused her. A mental image of her friend replacing his trench coat for a white lab coat popped into her head and it took all of her strength to keep from laughing aloud.

Minutes ticked by and The Doctor paced back and forth in front of Rose's bed. He was fighting back the urge to examine her himself. He knew that with one wave of his screwdriver he could easily figure out what was wrong, but last time he did that in a proper hospital...yeah, he didn't need to end up exhibit A in Area 51 again...

Rose was growing restless watching her friend walk back and forth over and over. The whole situation made no sense to her. She was confused and frustrated and everything hurt...and the silence was killing her.

"So who was it?" She asked in a raspy voice, finally deciding to end the madening quiet spell.

The Doctor jumped at the sound of her voice as if he was deep in thought and she had just snapped him out of it...which was exactly the case. He froze for a moment then spun around to look at her.

"Who was what?" he asked, feeling like he had missed something.

"Who started the fire? Was it Seamus or Neville?"

The Doctor hesitated, "I'm sorry..." recognition finally dawned on him and he smiled, "Oh, I see what you are playing at. You are very clever Rose, and very witty too. Seamus or Neville...ha! That's classic!"

Rose was confused by this response, "Doctor, what are you on about?"

Confusion registered on the Extraterrestrial's face as well, "You mean you weren't...you weren't making a Harry Potter joke?...I mean, I thought you know because it was Digon Alley that had caught fire you were making a joke about which character with the most advanced accidental pyrotechnic skills started it."

"Um...I wasn't joking. And what do you mean Digon Alley caught fire? Last I remember, we were in the divination tower eating supper with Dobby."

Several emotions crossed The Doctor's face at once, none of them positive ones.

"Rose," he asked, his voice suddenly very serious, "What hurts? I need you to tell me everything. Is it your lungs? Your head? Your tail-bone? What? I need to know, now."

Rose was a little frightened by his sudden ferocity, "Well, my head, chest and throat mostly...but, why does that matter. I mean why am I here...in a muggle hospital."

The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, turned it on full blast and pointed it at the security camera in the corner of the room.

"The last thing we need is them seeing me wave my screwdriver about." The camera sparked and sputtered, "Now that's better isn't it. Even deleted all of today's footage from here as well...hope nobody used this room for anything illegal before this." He turned toward the door and pointed his screwdriver at the lock. There was an audible click and he turned to waved the device all around Rose, scanning her for injuries.

While he was doing this, he looked her straight in the eyes, "You say 'muggle hospital' like you expected to wake up in the Hogwarts hospital wing with Madame Pomfree fussing over you."

"Well yeah, kind of did...and what's with all the American Personnel?"

The Doctor quit waving his screwdriver around and took a closer look at it's light as if the bulb contained the answer to all of his questions.

"We are in America Rose, don't you remember? Universal Studios? Orlando, Florida?"

"There is no way we are in Florida." Rose scoffed, "I distinctly remember arriving at Hogwarts for the start of term feast only a few nights ago..."

The Doctor raised his eyebrow and began banging the end of his Sonic on a near by end table, "You seem to be having trouble telling the difference between reality and fantasy, which is not a good sign. You mentioned that your head hurt, do you remember hitting it on anything?"

"No. And what do you mean I can't tell the difference between rality and fantasy...you sound like my mum!"

The Doctor stopped short, "Don't ever compare me to your mother." he said gravely, "And as for the whole reality versus fantasy thing...Rose we did go to a start of term feast. It was part of the weekly itinerary for our hotel. It was a convention dinner, that's all."

"But that's impossible! We were in the great hall...and you showed up late."Rose was starting to panic.

"No, we were in a ball room set up to look like the great hall, and yes I was late. There was an issue with your room key, remember?"

"No."

"Obviously not."

"But Doctor...why were we at a hotel...we have the T.A.R.D.I.S..."

"That malfunctioned and ran out of power. We had to emergency land it on a rift here in Orlando to power it back up, and it has us locked out until it has it's energy back." He quit banging his screwdriver and checked the light again, "Got it!" He shouted.

"Got what?"

"Your readings..." The Doctor all but mumbled, "Which are peculiar to say the least."

Rose's heart was beating rapid fire now, "How so?"

"According to this" he waved his screwdriver back and forth between his thumb and pointer finger gently, "You don't have any head trauma, not even a concussion. This doesn't make sense because clearly you have some kind of memory loss...and it also says that you have very little smoke inhalation which should account for your chest pain, but not all of what the readings are saying you are experiencing."

"Maybe the Sonic is wrong."

The Doctor looked up at her with flashing eyes, "The Sonic isn't wrong, I built it." he stated arrogantly, "Now, the most peculiar thing is that according to the readings, the only thing you experienced between Digon Alley and here is very low blood sugar..."


	6. Chapter 6

"...well that seems to be a recurring theme now doesn't it."

The Doctor just stared at her, brow furrowed in confusion. She could practically see the gears in his head switching into overdrive.

"What do you mean, 'a recurring theme'?"

"It's the same way in the other version of this story...the Hogwarts version."

Rose didn't think it possible, but the winkles on his forehead got even more scrunched. He just stood there for a moment before grabbing one of the flimsy folding chairs in the corner of the room, spinning it around, and plopping down astride it backward in one swift movement.

"Tell me more about this 'Hogwarts version' of our story..." He prompted.

Suddenly the blonde began to feel very self conscious. Last time something like this had happened, she was sitting in a shrink's office describing the tragic death of her imaginary friend only a few days after her mother had explained why she didn't have a dad in her life. She looked at her ancient friend skeptically.

"Never mind, I'm probably just imagining things. It doesn't even matter."

The Doctor pulled his glasses from his pocket, placed them on his face, folded his arms across the back of the folding chair and rested his chin atop.

"But it does..." He prompted seriously, "It really, really does, because Rose Tyler, you have been entrusted into my care and I have done one God awful job keeping you safe up until this point. I mean you are in a hospital for heaven's sake, and an American hospital none the less...I need to figure out what's going on and judge just how serious it is before some nut job in a lab coat comes in, drugs you up on some morphine and sends you on your marry way with a million dollar debt."

Under normal circumstances, Rose would have giggled, however right now her head hurt way too much for that.

"Doctor, it really doesn't matter." She protested, still not trusting herself.

He just stared at her with hard eyes and stiff jaw...his 'don't test me' glare.

She sighed, "Alright...in this 'Hogwarts version' of us, we decided we were going to pop into the wizarding world for a visit because we both had nothing better to do. You decided to become a divination teacher and I became your trusty assistant."

"Were we both wizards?"

"No...but we weren't Muggles either."

He just stared at her with an unreadable expression.

"Well I mean, you weren't a muggle...not an entire muggle. You were like a mudblood but not fully a mudblood because your magic was like...stunted? I don't know. You said you were part magic on your mother's side because you were half Human."

The Doctor's expression suddenly changed. His eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened in surprise.

"I said I was half human...on m-my mother's side...?" He stammered.

Rose took in his sudden change in attitude. It wasn't like him to be so thrown off guard. She didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that he had reacted in this manner, but one thing was sure...it made her uncomfortable. She squirmed a bit in her hospital bed.

"Y-yes. You said your mother was Human. Why?"

"But t-that's...I mean, you shouldn't...I mean...I never...I never said anything about..." He jumped back up from his chair and began pacing back and forth across the width of the tiny hospital room, running his hand through his fluffy hair repeatedly.

"Doctor...why is that such an important detail?"

"It doesn't matter." He mumbled distractedly.

"Well apparently it does..."

No answer, just pacing.

Rose sighed a heavy sigh that made her lungs burn, "Doctor...I wasn't right, was I? I mean...you're not...half Human...are you?"

The Time Lord stopped short and spun around to meet her eyes, "And if you were...would it matter?"

"Does it matter? Why would it matter? Being Human doesn't make you any less of a man, does it? I mean you don't really think so little of my species...do you?"

"Of course not!" He shouted, "In fact, if there was any species in the universe that I found more astounding, more interesting, more stubborn..."  
"You're only saying that because you share a common DNA with us."

The Doctor was taken aback, "I..T-That's not..." He sighed heavily, "Who am I kidding...yes, that has always been a part of it I suppose...but that's not the real issue here. The real complication here is how the hell your subconscious figured that out. I have been really careful not to mention anything about that to anyone unless it was in passing and...and to know it was on my mother's side...there is no way your mind should have been capable of creating something so specific."

"Maybe it had something to do with when I looked into the heart of the T.A.R.D.I.S all those years ago..."

"I highly doubt that...otherwise we wold have seen the effects much sooner. This is just starting to manifest now. What else do you remember?"

"I remember you mentioning that you cried at the end of book seven."

There was a moment of hesitation, "Book seven...Rose, there are only five books out. Book six hasn't even been released yet."

"No, but I specifically remember reading book six. I remember Draco plotting to kill Dumbledore and then Snape actually did kill him, and there was this potions book that belonged to someone named 'The Half-blood Prince'..."

The Doctor shook his head in denial, "No! You can't know that! I keep you away from spolers! We avoid anything and everything that has to do with major spoilers that could effect your immediate, personal future like that! Only I should know what happened in book six! How do you know what happened!? Have you been snooping in the T.A.R.D.I.S library?"

"No!" Rose spat back, hurt that her best friend thought so little of her as to break a rule so important to him, "I may refuse to stay put when you tell me to, but I wouldn't dare invade your personal belongings like that!"

The Time Lord smacked his palm against his forehead repeatedly in frustration. He began pacing again.

"This doesn't make any sense. You know things you shouldn't know. Things from the future, things I have never told you...what else do you know? Why has this happened."

"Oh, would you listen to you!" Rose shouted irritatedly, "You're going on like me having any kind of knowledge is a bad thing."

The Doctor stopped short once more, "It's not! You're very clever Rose Tyler, and that's one of the many things I find so attractive about you; however, this is information you shouldn't have! Information I don't know how you obtained...and that could be very bad...something could be messing with your mind, and that is a very, very bad thing." He seethed.

Rose blushed, "...You...you find me attractive?"

The Doctor's eyes widened in horror. It was now his turn to blush, but he wasn't going to let her see. He turned his back to her.

"What are you on about?" He demanded a bit to sharply.

"You said that my cleverness is one of the many things you find so attractive about me."

"I-I did not! See, now you are hearing things...it's probably another symptom. I said 'Inspiring' not 'attractive'." he sputtered.

"Oh, so I'm not attractive. Real great for the self esteem.. thanks Doc."

"Oh, what do you know. You're the one in the hospital bed having delusions about Hogwarts, not me...and oi! Don't call me Doc. You're not Buggs Bunny."

Rose just sighed a heavy sigh and tried to ignore the emotional turmoil going on inside of her. Just this once, she thought she had finally gotten him to fess up to just how much he really cared for her, and here he was denying it...

He spun back around to face her, his blush nothing but a mere reminder of what it had been a few moments ago, and stared straight into his companion's soulful, blue puppy eyes.

"Oh,...don't..don't give me that look...alright, you know what? We are going to get you out of here and go back to the hotel and sort all of this out properly without the meddling of so called 'medical' professionals."

Rose gave him a small smile, in hopes that it would mask all the hurt she was still feeling.

Later, back at the hotel Rose lounged on the couch as The Doctor sat hunched over her laptop at the desk. Square-rimmed 'thinking' glasses in place upon his face, he squinted at the screen, shoulders hunched, eyes flicking back and forth across page after page of information, absorbing information at a completely inhuman rate.

The troubled blonde sighed heavily, "Doctor, you haven't said anything in hours. What on Earth are you doing?"

"Research." he answered distractedly.

"Research on what? You aren't going to find anything on the internet concerning my condition that doesn't point to the idea that I'm crazy and you already adamantly disregarded that theory."

"Yes, I did. I know for a fact that you aren't crazy. I have met crazy people, Rose. Hell, I am a crazy person. I know you aren't mad. Besides, who said I was checking the internet."

Rose sat up on the edge of the couch, interest peaked.

"What do you mean you aren't checking the internet? You didn't use my laptop to hack like secret government records or anything, did you?"

The Doctor huffed, "Of course not! Did you not hear me earlier? I said I didn't want to become exhibit A of area 51."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Checking the intergalactic database."

Rose rolled her eyes, "Yeah, like that's any better."

The Time Lord finally looked at her with surprise in his eyes, "What? It's a secure search, I promise. Besides, It's not like anyone can track your computer, I made sure of that."

"I don't even want to know what you've done to my laptop."

He smiled a mischievous smile, "That's probably best."

Rose ran a hand through her hair, "Well, what have you found so far?"

The mad man just sighed heavily and gently closed the lid on the computer.

"So no luck then?"

He hesitated, "No...I found something. I just don't know exactly how I feel about it. I was hoping for a better...uh, safer explanation."

Rose raised an eyebrow, trying to appear more amused than panicked.

"Safer?" she joked dryly, "Come on, Doctor, when has any of our adventures been safe?"

The Doctor removed his glasses from his face, folded them up and stuck them back into his jacket pocket before meeting her eyes, "I'm serious, this isn't something to mess around with."

Rose paled, "What's happening to me?"

His expression softened, "Rose, I need you to stay calm. Please, don't panic. We haven't got time for that."

"What's happening to me!" she demanded more harshly.

"Well...from what I can gather, it appears that someone has been using you as a cross dimensional transportation vessel."

"A what?"

The Doctor jumped to his feet and began pacing, "A cross-dimensional transportation vessel. Someone, in another dimension, has locked on to your conscious and has been using it to try and cross into this dimension. I'm not sure who, or why, but it seems to be that in this other dimension there is another version of you and I, because if there wasn't two of us existing at the same time on different planes then there would be no way for whoever is doing this to hop between realities like this. Anyway, in this other dimension, there is another set of us and they are visiting Hogwarts, like actual proper Hogwarts. That's why you have been having these strange visions or dreams or whatever you want to call them. Every time you pass out, your conscious slips between dimensions and inhabits the mind and body of the version of you on the other plane...you temporarily are the other Rose. It's a side effect of someone else from that universe trying to inhabit the body and mind of this version of you..."

A shiver ran down the blonde's spine and her stomach turned to ice.

"S-so someone is trying to posses me? Someone is trying to posses me and I could end up stuck as a muggle in the wizarding world...a world where I don't even know if mum and Micky exists, a world where I'm not with you...or you know, this version of you, the version of you I trust." Her voice cracked on the last word and she began to hyperventilate.

The Doctor stopped short and rushed to her side. He squatted down at her level and took her face into his hands, looking her straight in her watery eyes.

"Don't you worry about a thing Rose Tyler, I will figure out who is doing this and why. You will be safe and you will return home to your mother and Micky. I promise."

A tear escaped the corner of her eye and slid down her cheek. The Time Lord promptly wiped it away gently with his thumb, his face furiously serious.

"D-Doctor...why does my blood sugar keep dropping...is that a side effect, or am I actually sick?"

"It's, well...yes it's a side effect. Whoever has been trying to inhabit your body has been...I mean...In order for whoever is trying to take control of you to cross into this dimension to actually take control of you, they need to draw power from somewhere and well...I mean I don't entirely understand how they draw power from your blood like that, but they found a way and it also causes you to pass out which makes it even more convenient for them..."

He didn't think it was possible, but the Doctor watched in horror as his companion's face grew even more pale.

"A-and the coughing?" she squeaked.

"Coughing? We were in a bleeding fire, it's smoke inhalation, don't worry about that!"

"B-but...but it effected me in the other dimension too..."

"That...that doesn't make any sense though..."

"Doctor, it always comes right before I pass out and end up waking up in one realm or the other..."

"But that's..." Suddenly he was on his feet pacing again. There was a long pause where nothing could be heard but the soft shuffling sound of his high tops carrying him back and forth across the hotel room carpet.

In the mean time, fear had overcome the poor human girl and she was so worried that she actually felt physically ill. She tried to keep her sobs silent, so as not to interrupt the Time Lord's train of thought. When the silence was finally broken, it was because of her not so silent sniffling.

"Rose." The Doctor stated in a firm but quiet voice, "Nothing is going to happen to you. I promise."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do apologize for my irregular updates on this story. Sadly it is the only thing I have time to work on at the moment and I hardly have enough time to write a chapter but once every few months. I promise there will be something else new soon. As for now, hang tight and enjoy.
> 
> -Thanks for sticking with me :)  
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rose awoke to the sunlight streaked cobblestone roof of the Hogwarts infirmary. As she sat up in bed she realized that for once she was the only one there. Typically, the beds would be littered with students who had jinxes placed on them by friends or bullies, students faking illness to get out of exams, and students who had shattered their bones in the latest Quittage match. Any other day Madam Pomfrey would have had her hands full…but today…

The sound of squeaking hinges echoed suddenly through the desolate hall along with the sound of a heavy door being pushed along the stone floor. It wasn't long after that that Rose saw two black high-top clad sandshoes shuffling briskly around the corner. When The Doctor saw her sitting up in bed, his face lit up and he rushed to her side.

"Glad to see you up and semi-functioning." He gleamed, "How do you feel?"

Rose cleared her throat and grimaced at how raw it was "Mostly alright" she replied rather hoarse.

"Your voice is going…that's what you get for coughing so hard." The Doctor teased, "Now what in the world is going on with you miss Tyler?"

"You mean, Madam Pomfrey didn't find anything wrong?"

"No…all she could find was…"

"Low blood sugar." Rose answered in unison with her friend.

He gave her an inquisitive look.

"Sounds about right." Rose mumbled to herself.

"How do you mean…" The Time Lord asked raising an eyebrow, "Do you know something I don't?...Don't go on now telling me your family has a history of hypoglycemia or diabetes or low blood pressure or any of that nonsense either because none of that would account for the coughing fit."

"I'm aware." Rose replied shortly, "And believe me I've had enough of those damned coughing fits. Whoever is behind this is going to get a right proper kick in the arse courtesy of me when this is all said and done."

The Doctor gave her a strange look, "Whoever is behind this…"

"Yes." Rose sighed, "Now hear me out before you go on telling me I'm schizophrenic. Every time I pass out I wake up somewhere that isn't here, that isn't Hogwarts. In fact, where I do wake up is in a city called Orlando in one of the fifty United States, Florida. There, there is a theme park based off of Hogwarts, and it is owned by a company called Universal Studios. Every time I pass out I wake up there, with another version of you looking worriedly over me and fussing about how you promised my mum you would take care of me and you haven't. Last time I woke up there, it was in a hospital because apparently I passed out while the theme park was on fire, but when we got to the hospital the only problem that was discovered was that while I was passing out, my blood sugar dropped."

The Doctor's face scrunched up as he began to interrupt, "Rose…I'm not sure…"

"I said let me finish" she snapped, "Anyway, I thought I was losing my mind, I thought I had gone right mad after traveling with you for so long but when you looked at me yourself you said that the readings from your screwdriver pointed to one solution and one only…Somebody in this realm, the Hogwarts realm, was pushing my soul or essence or whatever you want to call it into the body of Rose Tyler in this realm to possess my body that lives in the other realm…that make sense? Someone is using me as a trans-dimensional transport."

The Time Lord furrowed his brow, "Well I was worried that maybe you had gone mad, but that doesn't sound entirely implausible. I mean…I'm going to have to double check because there always is the off chance that you HAVE gone mad, but…either way we are in a bit of a predicament. If you're insane, your mother will kill me but at least we can get you the psychological help you need. God forbid it is a manifestation of some kind of time travel related post-traumatic stress disorder or both of your parents will have my head. However, if you are right and there is another form of you living in another dimension that is being forced into this one by an outsider attempting to posses your other body, we have bigger problems. Not only is something dangerous and probably magical using you as their marionette dooms day device, but that also means you aren't Rose…My Rose, the one I promised Peter and Jackie Tyler I would protect with my life, and the one I spent the last six years of my…life falling in love with…" He let those last four words trail off as a whisper.

Rose didn't even catch his last words; her father's name was still ringing in her ears. Apparently, in this realm, he was still alive. Seemed to be a common theme amongst parallel universes she came across. What a pity it was another Rose's reality and not her own.

The Doctor shook his head as if to clear it and smiled up at his companion, "Well then, better get you out of here and give you a proper look over." He stretched out his hand to help Rose out of the Hospital bed. She slipped on her sneakers and the headed out into the hallway towards the divination tower.

"Doctor, exactly how long have I been out for."

"A good two days. The students have been quite worried about you. Especially Weasley…I think he fancies you if I'm being completely honest."

Rose blushed at the thought of her childhood fantasy boyfriend potentially fancying her. It was too bad she was almost 21 years old…far too old for them.

"On a more depressing note however," The Doctor continued yammering, "The School is on lock down."

"Lock down?" Rose echoed, "How do you mean?"

The Time Lord shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his suit pants as he began to explain the complex events that had taken place while Rose had been absent. "The Daily Prophet reported that Bellatrix has escaped Azkaban…seems like security has become more and more lax since Sirius escaped…Dumbledore is taking this news very seriously and seems to think that naturally Lestrange is after Potter. The school is on lockdown. No one comes in or out, all outdoor classes and activities have either been temporarily suspended, or have been moved inside. Let me just take a moment here to express how thrilled Professor Snape and the Sytherin house has been to host the Care of Magical Creatures class in the spare classroom in the dungeon." The pair stopped shirt in the hall just outside the entrance to the Great Hall, "You have no idea how many times I have had to intervene these last two days."

Rose saw her friend's gaze harden and resisted the urge to bust out laughing. The thought of Hagrid getting into it with Snape and Draco was just too much. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Draco making his way to the Slytherin table for breakfast. Speak of the Devil and the tail appears she couldn't help but think to herself.

The Doctor snapped his fingers in front of her face and she jumped.

"Rose, are you alright? Did you even catch a word I said? You sort of spaced out on me there for a moment."

"Bellatrix is potentially on her way to Hogwarts, and Hagrid and Snape aren't happy about the new teaching arrangements…" She parroted back the summery to him distractedly, "Now shhhhhh" She turned her gaze back to Draco, with a mischievous smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

She watched as the notorious trouble maker took a seat across from his cronies and plucked a bright green Granny Smith from the fruit basket on the table. As he bit into it, a small trickle of juice rolled down his chin. He wiped it away with the sleeve of his robe and Rose grinned ear to ear. "Oh the Drapple fangirls back in my dimension would just be eating this up right now." She turned back to the astonished and confused Doctor, "See what I did there?...EATING it up." She snorted aloud.

"What in the blue blazes is a 'Drapple fangirl'?"

"It's Just this thing, back in my dimension, where these Harry Potter fans ship Draco with an apple…I don't entirely understand it but I can promise you that it is definitely a thing."

"Shipping? Rose what are you on about? And stop saying 'my dimension' as if the idea you are being used as a trans-dimensional transportation device is fact. To be quite frank I'd rather you were mad…it is, after all, the safer option."

"The safer option!? Doctor, I would rather I be a trans-dimensional possessed person than have lost my bloody mind! At least then I know that if everything works out its done and over with and It won't haunt me for the rest of my life!"

"See Rose, That's where you are wrong…being used like would cause you catastrophic damage! What you think low blood sugar would be the only side effect!? There are things about being used in such a way that you don't know! There would be crippling and lasting effects on you, the other Rose, my Rose, that has been repressed, on this world, on the other world and on time and space its self!"

Rose paled, "…How do you mean…"  
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Harry, Ron, and Hermione peaked around the corner at their new favorite teachers, concern etched on their faces.

"What do you suppose they are arguing about?" Harry wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, Miss Tyler is clearly isn't happy about it." Ron added.

"She looks so pale…" whispered Hermione, "I really do hope she's alright. She's been so ill lately…"

"And now Bellatrix is on her way to the castle to come after me, and I bet she didn't know until now." Harry sighed, turning away from the scene of the arguing teachers and slamming his back against the wall, "That probably isn't going to help her health."

"Don't worry about it Harry, she's a teacher…sick or not she's trained to defend herself against the dark arts." Hermione placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I mean; she might have some reason to worry…" Ron added.

Hermione shot him a dirty look, "What are you on about Ronald!?"

"Oi! Before you go getting all hostile, think about it. This is Bellatrix Lastrange we are thinking about, she tortured Longbottom's parents into insanity! Not to mention, Miss Tyler is a Student teacher, Hermione. She doesn't have all of the same qualifications as the rest of the professors."

"While that's very true, Ron, she is still better defended and protected than your average muggle."

"Well duh, if she was muggle she wouldn't be here first off, and second off she'd be dead within two seconds of an encounter with Lastrange."

"Guys, this really isn't helping." Chimed in Harry, "Besides here they come."

Just then the Doctor and Rose rounded the corner. The Time Lord smiled a cheery smile at the three of them, and Rose just avoided their gaze. It was as if she could sense that they had just been talking about her inevitable death…if she was a muggle that is.  
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A short while later up in the divination tower, The Doctor finished scanning Rose over for the third time with his sonic screwdriver.

"Looks like you were right." The Doctor sighed heavily, you have all the readings and symptoms of being manipulated as a trans-dimensional vessel. Someone from this world is trying to use you to get to the other. I would rather the other option, it would be less of a mess if you were simply going mad, but you aren't and now we need answers."

"What kind of answers." Rose sighed as she flopped down into a nearby chair.

"The typical kind…" The Doctor grumbled running his hand through his hair, "Who is doing this? Why are they doing this? How are they doing this? What damage is it causing to this world? What damage is it causing the other world? What damage is it causing the fabric of time? How do I get Rose back…"

"Get Rose back?" Rose echoed, "I'm right here!"

"No, but you aren't!" The Doctor snapped, "You aren't my Rose! The Rose I've been traveling with for what seems like eons, the Rose whose parents entrusted her care in me, the Rose I Love!"

Rose's Jaw dropped.

"No!...No…Her essence, her…soul, is being repressed by your very existence! You don't belong here. You belong to another dimension and another Doctor! My Rose…she was something special, and you are KILLING her!"

Rose began to sob. The Rose from this dimension had everything…a mum, a dad, and a Doctor who loved her…and she was stealing it away like some kind of parasite. But it wasn't her fault, The Doctor knew that, right?

"I'm sorry…" She gasped between sobs, "I'm sorry, I know I'm stealing everything away but it isn't my fault, it isn't…"

The Doctor's face softened suddenly and he knelt down to her height to wipe away her tears, "I know…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…it wasn't right of me to get angry at you…this isn't your fault."

Rose swallowed hard, grimacing as the saliva scraped past her raw throat.

The Doctor's face squinched up, "Ah yes, that. I knew there was something I forgot to tell you. And I'm sorry Rose…I'm so sorry but you need to know this…"

"Just get on with it!" Rose snapped as she blew her nose into a stray handkerchief conveniently placed on the table beside her.

"Right…" The Doctor took a deep breath, "Your coughing fits aren't random, but they aren't exactly a side effect either…more like a consequence. You see, what makes this even more cruel and even more wicked is the fact that whoever is doing this to you knows that every time you slip back and forth between dimensions it causes physical deterioration. They know because it is explicit in the ritual they have to proceed with to accomplish the dimension hopping. Rose, each time you slip between worlds, you are physically rotting away, from the inside out…starting with your lungs…"

"You've got to be bloody kidding me…" she whimpered

"But it's more complex than that. You see, while you are here, you are repressing my Rose's soul. Her actual soul is dying because of you existing in her body. But, while the possessor has control of your body in your dimension, it is physically rotting away. You only feel an echo of the damage in this realm. Some coughing and maybe some tightness in your chest now, but in your realm the damage is real and undetectable…at least to my standard screwdriver settings. When you inevitably return to your realm I need you to pass that information along to your Doctor, assuming he doesn't already know which I doubt, so he can amp up his settings as I have already done and keep a proper eye on you. I'm so sorry Rose, if he's anything like me I can't understand why he wouldn't have told you this before…"

Silent tears were now streaming down Rose's cheeks, "What happens if I slip between worlds too many times?"

The Doctor dropped his eyes to the floor, "I'm so sorry…"

"What happens!" she demanded.

"…. If you slip between worlds one too many times, the body your soul belongs to, the one in Orlando, will become too dilapidated to harbor a soul any longer. Your body will die but your soul will still have life left, leaving it to wander in a confused sort of purgatory until it eventually runs out of energy and fades into nothingness…giving you no chance to pass on to what comes after. As for the soul of my Rose, her body will remain a pristine shell left to spend the rest of its years biologically living out in a state of comatose while her soul fades into nothingness with no hope of passing on."

Just then Rose began coughing once more and the room began to fade to black. As she slipped once more into a state of unconsciousness, she also slipped one step closer to eternal nothingness.  
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Rose awoke once again to the warm cream walls of the Orlando hotel room. In the silence of the room, she noticed a now audible wheeze to her breathing. She also noticed a strange warm breeze on her neck, and an abnormally warm weight wrapped around her mid section. She pulled back the covers slightly to find one, blue pinstriped arm wrapped around her waist…and froze.

The Doctor rarely slept. As he was not entirely human, sleep was never a big deal for him. He could go weeks, or even months without ever having to rest. The only time he ever did sleep was either when he was ill, needing to appear human, or needed his subconscious to work out a problem his awake mind couldn't. Considering the recent developments in their adventure, Rose figured the reason he was asleep just then was probably the later of the options…he was probably trying to subconsciously work out how anyone could walk away from the current predicament even remotely okay…because she sure as hell didn't have the foggiest of clues. What didn't make sense to her though is why the Doctor had his sleeping arm wrapped around her…

The other Doctor, the one in Harry's realm had confessed his love to Harry's realm Rose via her. She blushed as she asked herself if maybe…this was the sign she had been looking for from her Doctor all this time…The thought sent a rush of butterflies to her stomach and she quickly jumped out of bed before she allowed her mind to wander to any other conclusions.

With her swift movement The Doctor's eyes snapped open, and he too was out of the bed in a flash with his screwdriver pointed in her direction, ready. Upon realizing it was just her standing there, he lowered his…well…it wasn't quite a weapon…and relief washed over his face. With his hair even more ruffled and untidy than usual, in his pinstriped jim-jams, he looked almost…normal.

Rose could feel a blush spreading to her cheeks, but before she got all distracted by how positively ridiculous he looked in his defense stance and pajamas, she remembered that he forgot to mention that both the life of herself and the other Rose were very much in danger. A blush still spread to her cheeks but a different kind. The other Doctor was right, her Doctor most positively did know about the damage that would happen to her, but didn't bother to tell her so as to "protect" her…per the norm.

"Ah, Rose, it's just you. Glad to see you still have those cat-like reflexes aye…how'd you sleep?"

Completely disregarding his question, and adorableness, she marched over to him, and slapped him straight across the cheek. A small trickle of blood slipped down the side of his face as a swollen red imprint of her hand overtook the afflicted area.

"Oi!" He shrieked, "What the hell was that for!"


	8. Chapter 8

"How is it!? How is it that you always get to decide when I'm safe? How is it that you always get to decide what's best for me and what isn't!? How is it that you could possibly keep it from me that I AM ROTTING AWAY FROM THE INSIDE OUT!" Rose raged as her so called 'best friend' looked on in pale shock, dabbing at the cut on his mouth with the corner of his pajama sleeve. When her accusatory words finally registered, he dropped his eyes to the floor.

"I suppose you slipped back into the other dimension while you were asleep…" He all but whispered.

"Doctor, I'm dying! She, the other Rose, is dying…and you didn't have the guts to tell me so yourself! How could you keep something like that from me!"

"If you are slipping away in your sleep, things are worse than I thought…" he continued to mumble, "Which means that we don't have much time…"

The livid blonde raised her hand and slapped him across the face again. This time he snapped his gaze up to meet hers, eyes hard and cold.

"Stop that right now." He ordered flatly. "Keep this up and the entire hotel is going to report us for domestic violence."

Rose crossed her arms but she did not stop staring him down. She waited impatiently and expectantly for answers.

"Listen to me Rose Tyler, and listen well. I understand why you are angry, and I understand why you slapped me. You had every right to. Your life is at a serious risk and I made the decision to keep that information to myself. I realize that was wrong of me, and maybe a bit selfish too. Maybe I just wanted to see you continue on as normally as you could for my own sanity. I'm not entirely sure if that was the reason I didn't tell you, or if I even had a reason not to tell you outside of the excuse that it was 'to protect you.' However, no matter how in the wrong I was, no matter how angry you had the right to be, that never ever should constitute violence. If you were anyone else Rose Tyler, and if we were in any other situation I would plop you back right where you came from because it is obvious to me now that you have no qualms with solving problems openly with violence…something I am happy to say I typically refuse in any companion of mine. There is always another choice…words are mightier than the fist."

Rose dropped her eyes to the floor, ashamed. However, she did not apologize…after all, neither did he.

The Doctor sighed and ran his hands through his hair before flopping back down onto the bed. Rose sat stiffly on the edgy by his feet. Seconds of tension passed like hours. She continued to sit there wondering to herself why the other Rose had everything. She had two parents who loved her enough to threaten the Doctor, she had been traveling with her Doctor probably a hundred times longer than she had, she had a Doctor who loved her enough to not spare her feelings and give her the facts as they were (whether it was what she wanted to hear or not), and her Doctor openly admitted to have fallen deeply in love with her…something she feared this Doctor, her Doctor, would never do.

She wanted to pity herself, and to cry and scream because she didn't have what she always wanted and the other Rose did. However, she also knew that she couldn't do that. Not only because it was childish and morally wrong, but because she knew that the grass really wasn't all that much greener on the other side. The other Rose may have had two parents, but she didn't know what the situation was with them. Maybe they were divorced. Maybe they were alcoholics. She didn't and couldn't know that. Besides picking another Jackie Tyler over the actual woman who gave birth to her wouldn't feel right. It wouldn't be her mum…she would be somebody else's. She also didn't hear anything about Mickey in the other dimension. Maybe he was abusive and that's why the other Rose ran away with the Doctor. Maybe he was dead. Maybe he didn't exist. She would never know that either. The other Doctor would make it a point not to answer too many questions about his world now that he knew she wasn't his Rose…she was sure that the other Doctor would be afraid of her getting too comfortable and wanting to stay. After all, there was no way for him to know for sure that she was not the parasite trying to have the life she's always wanted. She was sure this was something he had thought of and feared.

Then there was the matter of the other Doctor. Even if he did admit to loving a Rose, it wasn't her. He knew that she wasn't his Rose now, and therefore even if she did take control of the other girl's body, the other Doctor would never let her take control of the other girl's life. She also knew that he, sure as hell, would never love her…how could he? She would've destroyed the other girl's soul for personal gain.

A tear rolled down her cheek as the reality of the situation hit her. There was another Rose in another dimension, who although they shared the same name and identical bodies, had a completely different and separate life. This other girl saw through her own eyes. This other girl breathed with her own lungs. This other girl had a way of connecting to other people and loving them that was completely unique to her. Her body may be identical, but her spirit was not… Rose began to realize that this whole mess was not just about her. There was the life of a stranger at risk, and she was acting so…selfishly. She was reckless with the other body. Just as reckless as she was with her own. It was like she stole someone else's car, took it for a joy ride, bound and gagged them in the back seat, and forced them to helplessly look on as she narrowly missed getting them both killed. It was wrong, so very, very wrong and she had absolutely no choice in the matter. She realized that it was her duty to take care of both bodies the best that she could. It was her duty to trust in whatever either Doctor told her, because right now their minds were the only barrier between her, the other Rose, and death. She made a personal vow to not get upset with either of them again…they were doing the best that they could to help…even if it wasn't exactly convenient.

After what felt like an eternity of running around inside her own head she relaxed, flopped down on the bed, closed her eyes, and sighed.

"Doctor…I'm sorry. I know you are only doing what you think is best."

The Doctor sat up, pulling his lengthy legs into an awkward "Indian style", and leaned over her. "I'm sorry too…" He whispered, scooping a chunk of her hair behind her ear, "I should have told you all that I knew. I should have told you what was at risk, after all it is your life…" His voice trailed off and caught at the end. Rose laid there, looking up into his eyes, stunned.

"Doctor…I'm frightened…" She heard herself croak involuntarily.

The Doctor smiled a very sad smile and whispered, "So am I…"


End file.
